________________________ Spreading the Love of Reading One Book at a Time _______________________
This blog is for anyone whoever picked up a book and couldn't put it down. It's for anyone who loves to read and reads often. It's for anyone like me who's been seduced by a book and can't wait to discuss it.

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Nightshade (Nightshade, #1) by Andrea Cremer

The Prophecy:“Those who waited for the harvest child
must choose his fate
To begin again, search for the cross
To guard the power, make your gift (sacrifice)

Two worlds battle, the Scion lives between
When the veil thins, the gift (sacrifice) must be made
Lest one world fade while the other remains” Pages 394-395

Calla is an alpha currently in the Nightshade pack. She and Ren (an alpha currently in the Bane pack) will marry on Samhain and reign as co-leaders over a new pack called the Haldis pack. She and her pack are Guardians, protectors of the Keepers and guardians of the sacred sites. She’s never questioned how things work or why they are the way they are. She’s known how things would be her whole life and had accepted her fate.

“The only reason that Ren and I, or any of the young wolves, were born was to form the new pack. It’s what the Keepers brought us into the world for. They made matches for our parents, just like they’ve paired us as they see fit. Our union is the legacy of the alliance between Keepers and Guardians.” page 125

When Shay Doran comes into her life, however, he makes her question the way things are and puts doubts into her mind. When she decided to go against the Keeper’s laws to save Shay’s life she never expected to see him again or he would change the course of her life.

There is more than meets the eye in this book, so if you do a little digging you'll absolutely appreciate the little pieces Andrea has woven in to the fibers of the story. I can't wait for the sequel.

I gave it a 5 out of 5 roses. If you like Twilight and Kelley Armstrong's werewolves then you may like this book.

There is a free prequel to Nightshade called Shadow Days, on Amazon. Go to Amazon and enter the book's information (for Nightshade that is). There will be a box below the purchase information, but above the book video that says:

More to Explore:
Read an exclusive bonus prequel from Andrea Cremer's exciting new novel, Nightshade [PDF].

That's where you click on the words bonus prequel and you'll get the story in PDF form. It's 85 pages long.

Link to amazon for book:
http://www.amazon.com/Nightshade-Andrea-Cremer/dp/039925482X

Notes to keep you in the Know:Haldis - I looked up the name Haldis and this is what I found:
It is a girl’s name meaning weapon of the goddess pronounced HAHLdis and has norse origins
"Compound name, from the elements 'hal', 'stone' or 'weapon' [it could mean 'tool' in this context as well] and 'dis', which refers to a woman or a female divine being."
(above information gotten off of Nickelodeon Parent’s connect) link:
http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Haldis.html

Also found the following for Haldis on baby names.com:
"The meaning of the name Haldis is Stone Spirit
The origin of the name Haldis is Scandinavian"
Link: http://www.babynames.com/name/HALDIS

The War of all against all referred to on pages 187& 367. According to the book it also refers to the Witches’ War and The story of the Old Ones.

When I looked up Hobbes I found the following:

Thomas Hobbes author of Leviathan - According to Wikipedia, “In the book, which was written during the English Civil War, Thomas Hobbes argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that chaos or civil war — situations identified with a state of nature and the famous motto Bellum omnium contra omnes ("the war of all against all") — could only be averted by strong central government.”
Link to more from wikipedia on the book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_%28book%29

Harrowing means Pillaging and plundering

Harbinger -a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald
From dictionary.com

Hegemony Antonio Gramsci - “A system of rules whereby the oppresses are convinced to support the system of oppression, to invest in it, believe in it“. Page 368

From wikipedia “Cultural hegemony is the philosophic and sociological concept, originated by the Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, that a culturally-diverse society can be ruled or dominated by one of its social classes. It is the dominance of one social group over another, e.g. the ruling class over all other classes. The theory claims that the ideas of the ruling class come to be seen as the norm; they are seen as universal ideologies, perceived to benefit everyone whilst only really benefiting the ruling class.”
Link to more about Cultural hegemony on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_hegemony

“Samhain is known by most folks as Halloween, but for Wiccans and Pagans it's considered a Sabbat to honor the ancestors who came before us. It's a good time to contact the spirit world with a seance, because it's the time when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest.” Information gotten from about.com :
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/p/Samhain_History.htm